The organiser of a month of events to celebrate Ramadan has appealed to Anglo-Jewry for support.
An early highlight of the Ramadan Festival was a Balagan Boogaloo - "a night of storming Islamic and Hebraic hip-hop from some of the world's best" - in Shoreditch, East London, last Thursday. The Jewish Community Centre and Young UJIA were partners in the evening.

Festival front-man Mohsin Abbas said the idea was to celebrate the cultural side of Islam. He has been talking to the organisers of the Simcha on the Square event in Trafalgar Square later this month about a possible presence.

"We want to bring people together around the cultural aspects, the music and the food, a lot of which is common to many countries in the Middle East," he said. "Food is the big thing because there are so many Muslims working in restaurants and dealing with food. Food also brings people together, to sit down and talk to each other.

"I see the Jewish community as our prime ally. A lot of Jewish organisations are good at understanding the lateral approach towards faith issues and Muslims can learn a hell of a lot from that."
Mr Abbas is a TV film producer who has also organised a conference for the government on Muslim community development.

There will be another Balagan Boogaloo night at the Barbican later this month.